Women’s Swimming And Diving Finishes Strong At Wheaton Invitational

The Wheaton College women's swimming and diving team concluded day two of the Wheaton Invitational with 13 finishes inside the top-10 on Saturday evening at the Balfour Natatorium. The Lyons hosted Clark University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Tufts University in this weekend's non-scoring invitational.

Senior Caroline Isaacs (San Jose, Calif./Archbishop Mitty)contributed to three separate top-10 finishes in the 400-yard individual medley, the 200-yard backstroke and the 400-yard freestyle relay.

In the 400-yard IM, Isaacs placed third overall with a time of 4:55.06. Freshman Ceara Bowman (Centerville, Mass./Portsmouth Abbey School) finished in sixth place (5:13.99) while senior Kirstie Parkinson (Singapore, Singapore/Singapore American School) was seventh overall (5:29.02).

Isaacs and Parkinson took home sixth and eighth place overall, respectively, in the 200-yard backstroke as Isaacs recorded a time of 2:26.20 and Parkinson swam a time of 2:28.00.

The senior co-captain also teamed up with classmate Julia Kusiak Carey (Shawmut, Maine/Lawrence), freshman Julia Baynes(Winchester, Mass./Winchester) and Bowman in the 400-yard freestyle relay for ninth place overall in a total time of 4:00.63. Baynes also placed fourth overall in the 1,650-yard freestyle with a time of 19 minutes and 43.30-seconds.

First-year Courtney Leach (Gilford, N.H./Gilford) swam to a sixth place finish in the 100-yard butterfly posting a time of 1:03.05 and tenth overall in the 100-yard freestyle in 56.88-seconds. Classmate Helen Grant (Suffield, Conn./Loomis Chafee School) finished in 11th overall (57.02-seconds) in the 100-yard freestyle while senior Elle Van Cott (Delmar, N.Y./Bethlehem Central) ranked 12th overall (57.07-seconds).

In the 200-yard medley relay, Leach, Parkinson and Van Cott partnered up with sophomore Cara Morris (Irvington, N.Y./Irvington) for a fifth place showing with a total time of 1:57.46. Van Cott also turned in a tenth place performance in the 200-yard freestyle in 2:03.01.

Grant registered an 11th place finish in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:16.66 ahead of classmate Mikaela Puth (Rumson, N.J./Canterbury School) who touched with a time of 1:17.59. Puth was also tenth overall in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:44.36).

In the 100-yard backstroke, Morris led a trio of Wheaton swimmers with a ninth place performance in a time of 1:05.44. Van Cott followed in tenth place with a time of 1:06.10 while senior Dana Auger (Milford, Mass./Milford) ranked 12th overall in 1:06.30. Freshman Skyler Dean-Lee (Rocky Hill, Conn./Rocky Hill) checked in at 13th overall in 1:06.47.

The Lyons will take a week off after before they compete in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Championships, hosted by MIT, Feb. 15 to 17 in Cambridge at the Barrie Zesiger Sports and Fitness Center.